


wonky little flower

by damnmysterytome



Series: flower and a skull [1]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: F/M, Soulmate AU, somewhat vague descriptions of violence, soulmate tattoo au, the tattoo looks cooler in my head i swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-30
Updated: 2016-03-30
Packaged: 2018-05-30 04:25:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6408691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damnmysterytome/pseuds/damnmysterytome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Karen…” Karen was pretty sure that was the first time that Frank Castle ever used her first name. Up until this point, he’d also called her ma'am or lady. He’d never called her by her name. “Now, you need to go in the back and get the waitress. You tell the cook and anyone else who’s back there to find the biggest piece of stainless steel and you get under it. Go now.”</p><p>“What?” Karen asked, furrowing her brow.</p><p>“Do it now.” Karen said, looking out the window. Frank’s eyes were fixed on three men coming towards the diner and Karen realized. She realized what he’d done. She looked at him, her face contorting in anger and betrayal.</p><p>The look on Karen’s face stung Frank, but he didn’t have time to make her feel better about what he did. “I’m an asshole, just go.” Frank ordered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	wonky little flower

“Do you wanna know how I know Matt isn’t the one I’m meant to be with?” Karen asked, interrupting Frank’s speech about how when you find someone who has the ability to destroy you you never let go. She’d been listening to him talk for several minutes about it and she wanted him to shut up. When he didn’t respond, Karen turned her head to look at him. “He doesn’t have it.”

Karen didn’t know what mark that he had on him, but she knew it wasn’t the same one she had, nor was it in the same place. There’s a myth, not so much a myth but accepted fact, that you and your soulmate have the same tattoo – same size, same place, same everything. Karen’s heard that you can still fall in love without the mark, but it will never last. She didn’t know how much she believed it until she fell in love repeatedly and something always happened to tear it apart. “I don’t know what he has, but it’s not the same one. And if you ask me… It’s not worth doing it again. Knowing that it’s not… It’s just not worth it. Not to me.”

She looked up at Frank and lifted her cup of coffee to her lips, taking a slow drink from it. They made eye contact for a moment and he looked outside, sniffling once. “She didn’t have it either. I don’t want to know who does.” Karen watched his face for a few moments before she looked down at her hands. “You shouldn’t let it stop you. It’s just a damn mark.”

“It’s not the only thing, Frank. It’s the deciding factor. It’s the lies, it’s the deceit, it’s the fact that the reason he was barely at your trial was because he was with some other woman, it’s finding her in his bed. It’s the way he looks at me.” Karen looked up at Frank, who suddenly looked more angry than he had when he last looked at her. “It’s that I know I deserve  _more_ ,  _better_.”

“He’s a fuckin’ idiot.” Frank said after a few minutes of silence. “Murdock, letting you go.” Karen’s lips turned up in a smile and she lifted her coffee cup to him in appreciation of what he said, bringing her cup to her lips. “Karen…” Karen was pretty sure that was the first time that Frank Castle ever used her first name. Up until this point, he’d also called her ma'am or lady. He’d never called her by her name. “Now, you need to go in the back and get the waitress. You tell the cook and anyone else who’s back there to find the biggest piece of stainless steel and you get under it. Go now.”

“What?” Karen asked, furrowing her brow.

“Do it now.” Karen said, looking out the window. Frank’s eyes were fixed on three men coming towards the diner and Karen realized. She realized what he’d done. She looked at him, her face contorting in anger and betrayal.

The look on Karen’s face stung Frank, but he didn’t have time to make her feel better about what he did. “I’m an asshole, just  _go_.” Frank ordered.

“Goddamn right, you’re an asshole.” Karen said as she scooted out of the booth. Were Frank not about to do what Frank does, Karen could have probably thrown the scolding hot coffee in his face.

She listened to Frank, grabbing the waitress and the cook and giving them Frank’s instructions. They were the only ones back there, the two of them ducked by the stove and Karen inside a steel cupboard that was large enough to fit her. She was close by, could hear Frank as he bashed a mans skull in. She tried to cover her ears so she wouldn’t hear it but it was no use. It was loud and the noise would haunt her for the rest of her life.

When Karen stood to her feet to look at Frank, she caught sight of something on his collarbone that even in the dim lit she could make out. It’s a small skull with a misshapen flower intertwined in it’s eyes and mouth, sitting on top of a bed of what she always described as steam. She recognized it because it was the same mark she had on her collar bone. “Frank.”

“You need to call the police, get protective custody. Get away from this thing. Get away from me.” Frank looked up at Karen, at the tears that were streaming down her face. He didn’t know if she was crying for what he had just said or what he had just done, but the tears crush him. “Just stay away from me.”

 


End file.
